Widow's Endorphins: Happy New Year!

Widow's Endorphins: Happy New Year!: Take time every day to do something good for your soul: laugh, take photographs, draw, paint, colour, go for a walk on the beach, play w...

Happy New Year!

Take time every day to do something good for your soul: laugh, take photographs, draw, paint, colour, go for a walk on the beach, play with your dog, sing in the shower, laugh, bake cookies, listen to music, watch an old movie, laugh, read a book, write, email a friend, phone a friend, laugh, plant flowers, roast vegetables, throw a party, laugh, meditate, do a puzzle, invite someone for tea, dance, laugh, take dance lessons, take them again...

Each passing year, reminds us that time is precious.  Wishing you a 2016 of peace, joy, laughter, good health, and time to do something good for your soul.


Photograph Copyright:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Widow's Endorphins: Merry Christmas!

Widow's Endorphins: Merry Christmas!: Every year, I make hand painted glass Christmas ornaments to give as gifts, and place in the tree.  It is so relaxing, and ...

Merry Christmas!

Every year, I make hand painted glass Christmas ornaments to give as gifts, and place in the tree.  It is so relaxing, and gets me into the Christmas spirit.  No two are ever alike.  This year's collection featured copper, gold, turquoise and opal acrylic paints, and has a gemstone look about it, that reminds me of my shoebox of rock samples which my Dad gave me. Can you say, Chalcopyrite?

Have a Merry Christmas, and may there be peace in your heart.


Photograph Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Widow's Endorphins: Rose Quartz and Serenity

Widow's Endorphins: Rose Quartz and Serenity: Serenity.  In these turbulent times, it is something so desired by all in the world.  The more stressed we are, the more we seek or ...

Rose Quartz and Serenity

Serenity.  In these turbulent times, it is something so desired by all in the world.  The more stressed we are, the more we seek or create space for quiet reflection, and renewal. 

Every year, the Pantone Color Institute unveils it's choice for Color of the Year.  For the first time, two colours, Rose Quartz and Serenity have been chosen for 2016.  The selection is based on what I like to call, fashion anthropology, or in the words of the Pantone Color Institute, "a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude". Fashion designers, interior designers and decorators, home decor designers, jewelers, makeup artists, landscapers, and car manufacturers take note of each year's colour, and translate that into new works.

Rose Quartz (Pantone 13-1520) is described as "a persuasive yet gentle tone that conveys compassion and a sense of composure".    

Serenity (Pantone 15-3919) is described as "weightless and airy, like the expanse of the blue sky above us, bringing feelings of respite and relaxation even in turbulent times".

There's a peaceful, almost ethereal quality to the two colours, and magic happens when they are combined.  The Institute's Executive Director, Leatrice Eiseman says that, "joined together Rose Quartz and Serenity demonstrate an inherent balance between a warmer embracing rose tone and the cooler tranquil blue, reflecting connection and wellness as well as a soothing sense of order and peace".


Pantone Color of the Year 2016 image:  Pantone, Google Images
Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Widow's Endorphins: Bright Copper Kittens

Widow's Endorphins: Bright Copper Kittens: I've been humming My Favorite Things , since early November.  That's when work began on the Raindrops and Roses, Whisker...

Bright Copper Kittens

I've been humming My Favorite Things, since early November.  That's when work began on the Raindrops and Roses, Whiskers on Kittens blog post (see archives: November 23, 2015).   I hope the ghosts of Rodgers and Hammerstein won't haunt me like Jacob Marley's ghost.  I've changed the lyrics to their Broadway musical hit ever so slightly.  

You see, I don't have any bright copper kettles to photograph.  I have bright brass tea kettles, a copper pot (the kind a leprechaun would dance around), a copper bottomed au gratin dish (you'll remember it from The Mystery of the Autumn Woods, archives: September 27, 2015).  I also have a pounded copper serving tray, even a tarnished copper pitcher, stashed under the kitchen sink because it would break my heart to throw it away.  Not a copper tea kettle to be had.     

In desperation, I turned on the television to the Fireplace Channel, and placed the brass kettles on the copper tray, in the hopes that the flames of the faux fire would reflect in the brass kettles, creating a copper look. Awful. 

So, bright copper kittens it is. 

Ginger, marmalade, orange and apricot - delicious words, all used to describe the copper coloured fur on these little kittens.  Lori, from Kitty Cat Rescue, calls them "red" kittens, which may sound odd, until you realize that that's exactly how we refer to ginger haired humans - red heads!

Did you know that 75% of ginger cats are male?  It's just easier:  male gingers need the orange gene to attach to only one X Chromosome.  To produce a female ginger, the orange gene must be attached to two X Chromosomes.  

While we're lapping up scientific information, the University of California actually studied cat popularity.  Gingers are the most popular, because they're seen as "lovable and friendly".  

The first movie that I can remember seeing was Walt Disney's The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964). Thomasina is a Scottish ginger cat, and she narrates the story of her life - or lives.  

The year is 1912, World War I is far in the future, and Thomasina lives in one of the grey stone houses, along the cobbled streets of Inveranoch, Scotland.  Thomasina is a glorified doll for a little girl named Mary MacDhui.  Mary loves to dress Thomasina in a white gown and bonnet, and parade her through the village in a baby buggy (I was inspired.  My own cat - with the embarrassing name of Thomasina Puss-In-Boots Fluffball Adams - would have none of it).

Mary's mother has died, and Mary's father (Patrick McGoohan), the village Veterinarian, blames God for her death. Andrew MacDhui is not a nice Vet, and has a reputation for putting down dogs and cats that aren't working animals (and I don't mean by use of condescending words).  Horses, cows, guide dogs for the blind, even chickens matter more to him than Thomasina.  

When Thomasina is chased by dogs, and develops tetanus from her injuries, he has her euthanized. Mary vows to never speak to her father again.  What he, and tearful Mary don't realize, is that the injection didn't kill the cat, it only put her in a coma.

Mary and her friends, bagpipes a-wailing, give Thomasina a funeral in the glen.  When they see "Mad Lori" (the lovely Susan Hampshire, who also played Fleur in The Forsyte Saga) they run for home in terror, because they think she's a witch.  Of course, she's not a witch!  She's a healer of animals. 

Lori brings Thomasina back to her home, where the ginger cat begins her second life.  In Lori's hands, Thomasina makes a full recovery...except for her memory.  She can't remember her first life, with Mary.

Meanwhile, back at the Vet's - MacDhui is furious that the children, who've now discovered that Lori can cure animals (but still don't know that Thomasina is alive), are telling villagers to boycott his clinic.  The Vet storms over to Lori's hillside home, and winds up treating one of her injured woodland creatures.  It's the beginning of a lovely romance.

Thomasina's memory is returning in flashbacks.  She remembers her way back home, but runs away from Mary, who chases her through a violent thunderstorm.  Mary gets pneumonia.  For the first time since his wife died, MacDhui prays for a miracle.  Then, a bolt of lightning strikes a tree in the glen, and suddenly, Thomasina remembers everything!  She knows where she belongs!

She runs straight to Mary's bedroom window, peers in, and sees Mary's distraught father - the man who "killed" her.  She's learned about love from Lori, and in an act of forgiveness, she steps in through the window, and MacDhui places her in Mary's arms.  Mary survives!  

So begins Thomasina's third life, the one in which she and everyone else live happily ever after, when the Vet marries the witch who really isn't a witch.

This Christmas, think of adopting a kitten or cat that needs a good home.  You'll be glad you did.


Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins, Photographic Images Inc.

Widow's Endorphins: Thank You Five Thousand Times!

Widow's Endorphins: Thank You Five Thousand Times!: Widow's Endorphins just reached five thousand visits to the blog site!  Over the past few months, people from all across Canada, ...

Thank You Five Thousand Times!

Widow's Endorphins just reached five thousand visits to the blog site!  Over the past few months, people from all across Canada, the USA, Mexico, Brazil, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan, India, China, and Australia have popped into for visits, and WE couldn't be more thrilled.

Endorphins are natural pain and stress relievers, and flowers are my endorphins.  Just look at this image of my "leftover" birthday bouquet.  The vivid colours are energizing, while the reflection of flowers in the crystal vase, is calming...and reflective!  You could meditate, just staring into the image.  

Now that I have placed you in a subliminal trance...Please drop in for a visit each week, and invite your friends!

Photograph Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.